On December 12, 2023 members of Inland Action met with Lupe Valdez, Senior Director, Public Affairs with Union Pacific Railroad. UP operates in 23 states, mainly west of the Mississippi River, and serves or runs through more than 7,000 communities. As the saying goes, it is a 32,000-mile factory without a roof. This means blizzards, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes might impact their daily operations. Their operating revenue is $19.5B; route miles are 32,200 in 23 states. UP has 31,000 employees with an annual payroll of $3.5B. They have 7,600 locomotives and serve 10,000 customers. They are continually upgrading their infrastructure and currently have 4 major projects in Southern California.